#194: Deb Freeman: Giving Edna Lewis Her Flowers

#194: Deb Freeman: Giving Edna Lewis Her Flowers

From Edible Activist by Melissa L. Jones

June 3, 2026 · 44 min · Episode 194

About this episode

Melissa L. Jones interviews Deb Freeman about her work in food anthropology and the legacy of Edna Lewis.

She was the originator of the farm to table movement. She just never got the credit. In this episode Melissa L. Jones sits down with Deb Freeman — food anthropologist, writer, podcaster and executive producer and host of the Emmy award winning, James Beard nominated PBS documentary Finding Edna Lewis. Deb's life work is giving names, faces and stories to what Black people eat — and Finding Edna Lewis may be her most profound contribution yet. They explore how a photograph of Black women picking crabs in a museum set Deb on an irreversible path, what it meant to finally hear Edna Lewis speak in her own voice on reel to reel tape, and why the New York Times named The Taste of Country Cooking the most influential American cookbook of the past hundred years. They also wander beautifully into Virginia food ways, four generations of women in one house, yellow cake at church repasts and the invisible thread connecting Black communities across the country through food.

People in this episode

Host: Melissa L. Jones

Guest: Deb Freeman

Topics covered

  • food anthropology
  • Black culinary history
  • farm to table movement
  • Virginia food ways
  • cultural heritage
  • women in food

Keywords

  • Edna Lewis
  • food anthropology
  • Black communities
  • Virginia food ways
  • The Taste of Country Cooking
  • Finding Edna Lewis
  • farm to table
  • cooking traditions
  • women in food

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: New York Times

Books & works: The Taste of Country Cooking, Finding Edna Lewis

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